


i've never heard silence quite this loud

by softbrio



Series: brio one shots [8]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Light Angst, Soft Rio (Good Girls), brio communication but not really, brio fight but they make up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28633644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softbrio/pseuds/softbrio
Summary: brio fight, that's it, that's the plot
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Series: brio one shots [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746697
Comments: 2
Kudos: 59





	i've never heard silence quite this loud

Beth slammed the door to her silver minivan shut. She just wanted to _scream_ at him. She couldn’t believe what he did back there, completely disregarding her, acting like it was a couple of years ago when they first met. Like he was saying ‘stay in your lane’ again. Rio was trailing behind her, stopping at the passenger side door to type something on his phone before getting in. He knew he pissed her off, and this was going to blow up into something, and that it couldn’t be avoided. 

Rio finally got in the car after Beth started the engine, signifying that she was mentally saying ‘get the fuck in the car’. They didn’t even look at each other as she pulled out of the parking lot, and the only noise was the occasional turn signal clicking. _Click. Click. Click._

The drive home felt like an eternity, even if the gps had said twenty minutes. Luckily the kids were with Dean, because all Beth wanted to do was climb into bed and forget about this hell of a night. And she couldn’t turn the keys to shut the car off quick enough when they finally got home. 

Rio didn’t follow her into the bedroom like normal after getting in. He knew what he did, and he wasn’t going to make it worse by acting like everything was fine. And it was the longest that they’ve both gone without saying something to each other. But that wasn’t until Beth finally realized that he wasn’t coming in. She turned the corner from the room to see Rio getting a blanket for the couch. 

“What are you doing?” she asked. Rio looked up at her.

“Sleepin’ out here tonight,” he told her. 

“No you’re not,” Beth replied, and he shook his head. There was no in between; she was either mad or not. 

“Looks like I am,” 

“Rio, we’re not doing this,” she told him. He was doing the exact opposite of what Dean would do—expect to go to bed thinking everything was fine. 

“What do you suggest, huh?” Rio asked, dropping a pillow. Beth looked at him in the eyes with the most cold expression ever. She started to walk out to the island in the kitchen, and poured a glass of bourbon—the expensive one that he had bought for her. He trailed behind immediately, not missing the hint.

Beth sat the glass back down on the marble countertop, taking a breath. “Why did you say it?” she asked.

“Say what?” he asked in reply. Beth rolled her eyes, trying to figure out why he was being such an ass right now. Or why he was trying to get under her skin so much. 

“You know what,” she scoffed. He didn’t reply. “That I was _just_ your partner, like I didn’t matter,” she added. 

“You are my partner, you tryin’ to fight against that?” Rio asked in return. 

“You don’t get it,” she replied, walking back out into the living room. Rio followed right behind her. 

“Yeah? And I do wanna get it, so what is it,” he said. Beth took a deep breath, it was like she was reliving the words that were about to come out of her mouth. 

“That night in your car,” she started. “You told me I was just work, and it, I guess it hurt me.” And it was true, that night haunted her for weeks. And it made her scared. “I guess when you acted like that tonight, it reminded me of when you said that.”

“Why would you think that?” Rio asked, making Beth roll her eyes. 

“Because it makes me scared,” she replied. 

“What does? Me?” 

“This,” she blurted out. Rio’s expression dropped. “I’m scared that it’s just work again. I’m scared that I’m not going to be enough, and I’m scared that-” she abruptly stopped. 

Rio walked closer to her, closing the gap. “Scared of what, ma?” he asked. Beth felt a tear forming at her left eye. 

“That I don’t fit in with, _your_ people,” she said. It was what she was the most scared about. Every single meeting they go to she’s scared that she’s getting judged, or looked at like she doesn’t belong there. And it was never a problem because he always fit in with the people she’s around. Even during school functions he still fits in. And he’s never afraid to drape a hand across her back, run his fingers through her hair, or squeeze her waist at the spot that he knows is ticklish. He wasn’t afraid—but she was. 

Rio sat down on the couch, throwing his head against the top. Beth creeped to the other side after awhile, leaning her head against a pillow that separated the space between them. 

“What do we do now?” she asked after awhile. Rio was silent for a little bit before responding. 

“You tell me,” he said. 

“Rio, I didn’t want to have a fight about this,”

“Nah, you’re making it into one,” his words cut through Beth quicker than ever. Was she really being _this_ dramatic? 

“It hurt me,” she said. “You tell me I’m involved in this business and then completely disregard me.” Rio looked over at her. 

“I did it for a reason,” he told her. 

“Well it better have been for a good fucking reason,” Beth replied. He turned away from her. 

“Go to sleep, Elizabeth,” he said. 

“No, I want you to tell me the reason,” But he didn’t answer. 

* * *

Somewhere throughout the night Beth must have gotten tired of being in an uncomfortable position on the couch, and shifted towards Rio. Because when she woke up her head was resting on his lap, as he was running his fingers through her messy hair. She lifted her head up, confusingly looking at the clock on the wall. 

“Mornin’” Rio said, running his hand down her spine. Beth pulled away, retreating to the spot where she was before she fell asleep. 

“I’m still mad at you,” she said. 

“I know,” After a couple minutes of silence, Beth finally got up to head into the kitchen, clicking the coffee maker on. She stood at the counter in silence, looking out at the back yard. Specifically the picnic table where he would sit countless times, waiting for her to come out. Rio appeared behind her a minute or two later, wrapping his arms around her, burying his face into her neck, her head dropping forward allowing him to do so. And _god,_ she hated him right now, but it was slowly going away by the second. 

“What are you doing?” Beth asked after awhile. Rio lifted his head back up, spinning her around to face him, arms still tightly secure around her waist. 

“Was doing it to protect you,” he started to explain. “If any of these people we have ties to find out about _this,_ we’d both be dead or in jail.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked in reply. 

“Didn’t wanna scare you,” Rio said, pressing his forehead into hers, as she twisted her arms around him in return. 

“Well you scared me anyway,” Beth said. 

“I know,” 

“And you’re never keeping anything from me again,” she added. Rio let out a laugh at her demand. 

“I know,” he repeated, and leaned down to kiss her. It was interrupted by the ding of the coffee maker, signifying that it was done. “Always gonna be more than my partner, Elizabeth. Just gotta know that.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Beth replied, slipping out of his embrace, which earned a groan of frustration from Rio.

**Author's Note:**

> bye this is so chaotic but so are they 
> 
> i skimmed through this like once so if there’s any mistakes no there’s not❤️


End file.
